New Feature! Restaurant Profile: Cafe Salsa
Cafe Salsa's Mojitos: Recommended. (Alejandra Owens)
FRIDAY UPDATE: Cafe Salsa has closed its doors, according to the Prince of Petworth. We will have another restaurant profile from Alejandra soon.
From Alejandra Owens, One Bite At A Time
We’re starting something new here at Borderstan: restaurant profiles. Here’s how it will work. We will throw out the basics (where, when and how much) and you help us flesh out the details with reviews and comments.
Want us to go somewhere? Leave suggestions in the comments section and we’ll give it a try! Please keep your suggested eateries in the Dupont-Logan-U Street area.
Cafe Salsa
Where Am I Going: 1712 14th Street NW (just north of R Street, west side).
When Am I Going: Sunday-Wednesday, 11:30 am-11 pm; and Thursday-Saturday, 11:30 am-midnight.
Paycheck Pain: $7-$30 for appetizers to entrees to desserts and drinks.
Say What?: Happy hour got a bit loud at the bar, but you can still hold an easy conversation.
What You’ll Be Eating: “Nuevo Latino” which is to say, a mish-mash of all types of Latino foods from all countries and regions. Mojitos are a specialty and musty-try here.
Happy Hour: Their website specifically names Wednesdays and Thursdays from 4-7 pm for happy hours, but I have a hinting suspicion deals can be had all days of the week at the same hours.
Here’s how a recent happy hour visit went for us. It started with a Mojito and then there was a steak quesadilla or two (a friend wanted more)… and then there were spinach empanadas… finished by another Mojito (we’ll admit these were especially tasty).
After the Mojito came steak quesadillas. (Alejandra Owens)
Spinach empanadas came after the quesadillas. (Alejandra Owens)
12 Comments »
Leave a reply to Taboo Cancel reply
RSS Feeds
-
-
Sitemeter
StatCounter
Flickr
Borderstan 
I gave this place a few tries, but the service was so bad (and I am not that picky) that it just got stupid. Sitting at the uncrowded bar for ages trying to get a drink from the bartender? The food didn’t really make up for it.
I hope it doesn’t stay vacant too long.
Hmmm, U should start visiting some of the dumps on U Street. Maybe they will close down, too.
@Mister Knucklz: LOL
Prince of Petworth reports now that Cafe Salsa has closed. http://bit.ly/bFsmlz
Thanks. Post has been updated.
Honestly, I’m glad to see all these positive reviews – but the one time I ate at Cafe Salsa the tasty mojitos were no match for the lackluster food and service. The dishes we tried were relatively bland – not good for latin food! I’m tempted to go back and check it out again, and get more traditional fare (quesadillas!)
Very pleasant, if somewhat pricy place for lunch.
@Taylor: I agree. We have eaten there a half dozen times. It is always very good and the service is as well. I don’t understand the number of open tables. I hope their business picks up. I know that the first Cafe Salsa is in Old Town Alexandria.
I am constantly worried that this place will go out of business, because it never seems to be that crowded, even when every other restaurant on 14th St. has an hour wait for a table.
I have no idea WHY it’s not crowded, though, because the food is tasty and the management/service is friendly.
That said, I don’t want too many people to find out about it, because it is my total go-to for a neighborhood drink/dinner when I have no patience for the over-crowding everywhere else (which is most of the time).
So conflicted!
Alejandra: Are you going to do anything on cheap eats? Like JJ’s Cheesteaks, places like that?
@Joel: I agree. In this neighbhorhood, they should have more options for veggies. One of my favorites has been the pork.
The food at this place is incredibly good HOWEVER limited options for vegetarians when I last visited. I hope they work on this, because it’s money left on the table for them and any good independent restaurant in town. This place clearly has talent, the food is very good, so just show us veggies a little more love, please.